Russian ship adrift off B.C. coastA Canadian Coast Guard vessel is continuing to slowly tow a disabled Russian container ship carrying hundreds of tons of fuel away from British Columbia's pristine northern coast.
The move lessened the threat of the ship running aground, hitting the rocks and causing a spill. The Canadian Forces' joint rescue coordination center said the Russian carrier Simushir lost power off Haida Gwaii, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, as it made its way from Everett in Washington state to Russia. The Council of the Haida Nation said the Coast Guard ship Gordon Reid managed to secure a towline and the two vessels were moving away from the coastline at Gwaii Haanas at 1.5 knots. Officials said the outcome was subject to weather, but the danger has been lessened.
Acting Sub. Lt. Ron MacDougall said the ship, originally nine miles (14.5 kilometers) offshore, is now 18 miles offshore (28.9 kilometers). He said the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spar are there to provide assistance but they haven't yet been needed. The ocean going tug Barbara Foss was also due to arrive later Saturday morning. The ship was drifting northwest in stormy seas Friday, away from shore, after losing power late Thursday, officials said.
The fear of oil spills is especially acute in British Columbia, where residents remember the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Such worries have fed fierce opposition — particularly from environmentalists and Canada's native tribes — to a current proposal to build a pipeline that would carry oil from Canada's Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast for shipment to Asia. Opponents say the proposed pipeline would bring about 220 large oil tankers a year to the province's coast. British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak said she hopes the incident underlines for the Canadian federal government the need to develop a world leading response to possible tanker spills. The president of the Council of the Haida Nation warned earlier Friday that a storm coming into the area was expected to push the ship onto the rocky shore, but later President Pete Lantin told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. their worst fears have subsided. "Right now they may have averted what we thought would be the worse-case scenario," Lantin said.
About 5,000 people live on the island and fish for food nearby, Lantin said. Roger Girouard, an assistant commissioner with the Canadian Coast Guard, said their top concern was the fuel and diesel oil onboard and the risk that the ship could hit the rocks and break apart. He earlier said if the ship did come apart the rough seas would break up the oil "so we would have an ally there. It's cold weather so we don't have a lot of migratory species right at the moment." He said they have been already moving assets to the region to respond should the break apart and spill.
Acting Canadian Sub. Lt. Ron MacDougall said the Simushir, which is about 440 feet (135 meters) long, was carrying "a range of hydrocarbons, mining materials and other related chemicals." That included 400 tons of bunker oil and 50 tons of diesel. The vessel is not a tanker but rather a container ship. In comparison, the Exxon Valdez, spilled out 35,000 metric tons of oil. A spokesman for Russian shipping firm SASCO, the owners of the vessel, said it is carrying 298 containers of mining equipment in addition to heavy bunker fuel as well as diesel oil onboard for the voyage.
The move lessened the threat of the ship running aground, hitting the rocks and causing a spill. The Canadian Forces' joint rescue coordination center said the Russian carrier Simushir lost power off Haida Gwaii, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, as it made its way from Everett in Washington state to Russia. The Council of the Haida Nation said the Coast Guard ship Gordon Reid managed to secure a towline and the two vessels were moving away from the coastline at Gwaii Haanas at 1.5 knots. Officials said the outcome was subject to weather, but the danger has been lessened.
Acting Sub. Lt. Ron MacDougall said the ship, originally nine miles (14.5 kilometers) offshore, is now 18 miles offshore (28.9 kilometers). He said the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spar are there to provide assistance but they haven't yet been needed. The ocean going tug Barbara Foss was also due to arrive later Saturday morning. The ship was drifting northwest in stormy seas Friday, away from shore, after losing power late Thursday, officials said.
The fear of oil spills is especially acute in British Columbia, where residents remember the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Such worries have fed fierce opposition — particularly from environmentalists and Canada's native tribes — to a current proposal to build a pipeline that would carry oil from Canada's Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast for shipment to Asia. Opponents say the proposed pipeline would bring about 220 large oil tankers a year to the province's coast. British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak said she hopes the incident underlines for the Canadian federal government the need to develop a world leading response to possible tanker spills. The president of the Council of the Haida Nation warned earlier Friday that a storm coming into the area was expected to push the ship onto the rocky shore, but later President Pete Lantin told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. their worst fears have subsided. "Right now they may have averted what we thought would be the worse-case scenario," Lantin said.
About 5,000 people live on the island and fish for food nearby, Lantin said. Roger Girouard, an assistant commissioner with the Canadian Coast Guard, said their top concern was the fuel and diesel oil onboard and the risk that the ship could hit the rocks and break apart. He earlier said if the ship did come apart the rough seas would break up the oil "so we would have an ally there. It's cold weather so we don't have a lot of migratory species right at the moment." He said they have been already moving assets to the region to respond should the break apart and spill.
Acting Canadian Sub. Lt. Ron MacDougall said the Simushir, which is about 440 feet (135 meters) long, was carrying "a range of hydrocarbons, mining materials and other related chemicals." That included 400 tons of bunker oil and 50 tons of diesel. The vessel is not a tanker but rather a container ship. In comparison, the Exxon Valdez, spilled out 35,000 metric tons of oil. A spokesman for Russian shipping firm SASCO, the owners of the vessel, said it is carrying 298 containers of mining equipment in addition to heavy bunker fuel as well as diesel oil onboard for the voyage.